Tazria, Vayikra 13:3. A Kohen Must See the Tzara'as.

The Torah says that if a nega appears, only a kohen may pasken whether it is Tzara'as. If he is not a Talmid Chacham, he has to take a lamden with him to tell him what to pasken. But the Kohen has to examine the nega'im, and, ultimately, he has to pasken.

Rabbi Dr. Gary Schreiber pointed out that the avoda of the miluim, the process by which the Kohanim were inaugurated, has similarities to the tahara process of the metzora. If you carefully compare the two, you will find that they have avodos in common which are rarely found elsewhere. He said an excellent, and, I think, new, pshat that explains both connections of Kehuna to Tzara'as.

A kohen is subject to the temptation of gaavah, because of his entitlements (the twenty four Matnos Kehuna) and his kedusha (which enables him to do the avodah and requires him to be tahor). Also, Kohanim are aware of everyone’s sins, because whoever brings a korban chatas has to be misvadeh; furthermore, when someone brings a chatas, he has to clearly explain to the Beis Din of the Kohanim why he is bringing it, so they can be sure that the Korban Chatas is indeed required and that it is not chulin ba'azara. So he might say lashon hora. This is a dangerous position to be in: you are born with superior kedusha, Klal Yisrael has to sweat to wrest a living from the earth while you sit at home and get your food-- grain, fruit and meat-- delivered tied with a bow, and you are privy to all their embarrasing failures and sins. It would not be surprising if Kohanim viewed the rest of Klal Yisrael as if they were a bunch of donkeys. This natural tendency to ga'avah and lashon hara can bring Tzara'as.

So the Torah says that the kohanim must personally look at nega’im. They need to see what the result of gaavah and lashon hara are. This constant visual reinforcement will help them control their yetzer hora. Very few oncologists smoke, and many dermatologists obssesively avoid exposure to sunlight, because day after day they see the deadly results of irresponsible and self destructive behavior; so, too, Kohanim are obligated to closely examine the nega'im of Tzara'as, and this will remind them to eschew the traits that bring Tzara'as - Ga'avah and Lashon Hara.

And this explains why the Avodas HaMilu'im recalls Taharas Metzora. The foundation ritual of Kehuna mirrors the taharas metzora process, so that every kohen will read this parsha and remember that the superior status he was granted brought with it a concomitant danger, and that every day he must be on guard against the temptations of ga'avah and lashon hara. Indeed, this concept is found in the Bracha the Kohanim give Klal Yisrael: Yevarechacha Hashem Veyishmerecha: every blessing brings along a heightened risk and the need for shemira. Kohanim, too, are blessed with many things, and these blessings create the need for greater shemira.

(Dr. Schreiber's words:
"...the similarity between the avoda of the taharas hametzora and the miluim of the kohanim which requires blood placed on the the bohanos of each of them. The kohen will hopefully carry the initial impression with him through his years of avodah and refrain from the failings that lead to one becoming a metzora.")

Update 2017: R Avrohom Bukspan sent a comment that connects a Medrash on this inyan. Vayikra Rabba 15.

רבי בשם רבי חמא בר חנינא: 

צער גדול היה לו למשה בדבר, כך הוא כבודו של אהרן אחי להיות רואה את הנגעים?! 

אמר ליה הקב"ה: לא נהנה (אותו) מהם כ"ד מתנות? 

מתלא אמר: דאכיל בהדי קורא ילקה בהדי קילא, (= האוכל מן הקור לוקה מן הקורה).

There are too many pshatim on the words דאכיל בהדי קורא so we won't go into that, but, as I responded to Reb Avrohom, 

Very interesting pshat in the Medrash. Pashtus, it means that if a person shares his blessings with you, you can't turn your back on him when he's suffering and say it has nothing to do with you, you have to share his pain as well. But the way you're connecting it to this pshat, it's Chazal's way of describing what Gaavah is all about- that when it comes to taking, you think you're entitled, so that when the man needs sympathy, you don't feel any obligation to him. "I took because I deserve, and it's an honor for him to give me. I owe nothing to him!" So the Torah says, no. It was a gift, and you should be makir tov to the extent that his pain is your pain.

Update 2021:

Just to outline the similarities between Taharas Metzora and Chinuch Kohanim and Leviim. Chinuch Leviim is in Behaaloscha, and Kohanim is in Tzav.

1. Taglachas: 

Metzora, (ויקרא יד, ט) 

וְהָיָה בַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי יְגַלַּח אֶת כׇּל שְׂעָרוֹ אֶת רֹאשׁוֹ וְאֶת זְקָנוֹ וְאֵת גַּבֹּת עֵינָיו וְאֶת־כׇּל־שְׂעָרוֹ יְגַלֵּחַ 

Leviim וְהֶעֱבִירוּ תַעַר עַל כָּל בְּשָׂרָם" (במדבר ח, ז)

2. Kibus:

Metzora וְכִבֶּס אֶת בְּגָדָיו" (ויקרא יד, ט) 

Leviim וְכִבְּסוּ בִגְדֵיהֶם וְהִטֶּהָרוּ" (במדבר שם)

3. Tevilla.

4. Tenufa, by Metzora on his living Korban, by the Leviim on them personally.

5. Dam and Shemen on the persons:

Metzora  וְלָקַח הַכֹּהֵן מִדַּם הָאָשָׁם וְנָתַן הַכֹּהֵן עַל תְּנוּךְ אֹזֶן... וכו" (ויקרא יד, יד, י'ז)

וּמִיֶּ֨תֶר הַשֶּׁ֜מֶן אֲשֶׁ֣ר עַל־כַּפּ֗וֹ יִתֵּ֤ן הַכֹּהֵן֙ עַל־תְּנ֞וּךְ אֹ֤זֶן הַמִּטַּהֵר֙ הַיְמָנִ֔ית וְעַל־בֹּ֤הֶן יָדוֹ֙ הַיְמָנִ֔ית וְעַל־בֹּ֥הֶן רַגְל֖וֹ הַיְמָנִ֑ית עַ֖ל דַּ֥ם הָאָשָֽׁם׃

Kohanim, (ויקרא ח, כד-ל)וישחט ויקח משה מדמו ויתן על־תנוך אזן־אהרן הימנית ועל־בהן ידו הימנית ועל־בהן רגלו הימנית

ויקרב את־בני אהרן ויתן משה מן־הדם על־תנוך אזנם הימנית ועל־בהן ידם הימנית ועל־בהן רגלם הימנית

Shemen, by the Kohanim, ויקח משה משמן המשחה ומן־הדם אשר על־המזבח ויז על־אהרן על־בגדיו ועל־בניו ועל־בגדי בניו אתו ויקדש את־אהרן את־בגדיו ואת־בניו ואת־בגדי בניו אתו 

UPDATE 2022.

I just saw an email from R Zweig's yeshiva in Miami. He says that the lesson of davka these three limbs is that a kohen, elevated to Keser Kehuna, holier than every other Jew, needs to be reminded that his is a position of service, not self-aggrandizement. So you put the dam on his hand, leg and ear - The kohen is charged with the work of doing for others, and going to others, and listening to others.  The same lesson is taught the Metzora, who needs to change from self centered to sympathetic.

His words:

In this week’s parsha, we find Hashem giving Moshe instructions for the official installation of Aharon and his sons as kohanim – the priestly class of Bnei Yisroel. Moshe then gathers all of Bnei Yisroel to watch as he follows a step-by-step process for initiating Aharon and his sons as the kohanim.

Aside from the steps that might be expected in the process of elevating their status – immersion in a mikveh, dressing them in priestly vestments, applying and sprinkling the special anointing oil to all the vessels in the Mishkan and to Aharon and his sons as well, etc. – we find a very unusual ritual.

Several sacrifices were offered: a bull was brought as a sin offering, a ram was brought as a burnt offering, and a second ram was brought as a peace offering (see 8:22 and Rashi ad loc). Moshe then applied the blood of the peace offering to Aharon’s and his sons’ right ear lobes, right thumbs, and right big toes.

This ritual is only performed in one other place in the Torah: by the purification of a person who has been struck by tzora’as – commonly (and incorrectly) translated as leprosy.

hat is the meaning of this enigmatic ritual and what is the relationship between initiating the kohanim and cleansing one who has recovered from tzora’as?

Aharon and his sons were being elevated to a new status over the rest of the Jewish people. They were now receiving forevermore one of the three crowns that Hashem gifted to this world; they were receiving the crown of kehuna. Without proper perspective, being crowned can be a dangerous affair as it can easily lead one to harbor false notions of self-importance. A person can actually begin to believe that he is receiving this honor because there is something intrinsically great about himself.

The unique ritual of placing the blood on the ear lobe, thumb, and big toe is intended to address this issue. The unifying connection between all of these parts of the body is that the ears, fingers, and toes represent the person’s extremities. When a person gets cold, the first parts that are affected are the extremities – namely the ears, fingers, and toes – because they are the furthest from the core of the body. Yet, when a person is asked to point to himself, he always points to his core. Thus, by emphasizing the extremities, this ritual demonstrates that the position is not about them personally, it’s about what they can do for others.

The message they receive is that while being anointed a kohen is an honor, it is more significantly a great and awesome responsibility. The Talmud has a dispute about whether the kohanim are agents of the people to Hashem or agents of Hashem to the people, but everyone agrees that they are merely agents. In other words, they are facilitators not principals. This is the message conveyed by placing the blood on the extremities.

This is also true of a person who has been struck by tzora’as. This punishment comes as a consequence of speaking loshon hora. The core motivating force of one who speaks loshon hora is the desire to elevate oneself by putting others down. While every sin contains an element of self-centered behavior, loshon hora is the sin of focusing on the perceived importance of oneself and trying to elevate the opinions of others regarding one’s own self-importance. This is why a person needs a kohen to declare them unclean and the process of purification is the same as the kohen’s initiation. The message they are supposed to receive and internalize is that they need to focus less on themselves and their own importance.

ADDITIONAL UPDATE 2022

Dr. R' Hertzka Grinblatt offered another very good explanation for the commonality among Metzora and Kohen and Levi. He said that all three need to be kovei'a themselves in a machaneh.

The Metzora needs to be allowed into Machane Yisrael; the Levi into Machane Levi'ah; the Kohen into Machane Shechina.

This is a case of תן לחכם ויחכם עוד, and also an application of די לחכימה ברמיזה. Because you can cavil that the Metzora was already muttar to enter the machane after the Shtei Tziporim; and the Levi? He doesn't need any hetter to go into the Har HaBayis. But the point is still excellent. There are three machanos. Each of the three is the place of the parts of Klal Yisrael. For all three of these people, it is part of the process that is KOVEI'A them into their machane position. Again, I can explain it for you, I can not understand it for you.  

Tzav, Vayikra 11:33. Umipesach Ohel Moed lo seitzu shivas yomim.

There are several medrashim that say that when Nadov and Avihu died, no aveilus followed their death. The Aveius was nidche because of the simcha of the Chanukas Hamishkan. But in a sense, the Medrash says, the "aveilus" came before they died, and this was an additional reason for the requirement that the Kohanim stay in the Ohel Moed for seven days prior to their inauguration. As it turns out, then, Nadav and Avihu sat Shiva for themselves.

In Moed Kattan 20a the Gemara learns the din of sitting shiva from a possuk in Amos 8:10, “vehafachti chageichem l’eivel,” I turn your holidays into mourning. Just as the shalosh regalim are seven days long, so, too, aveilus is seven days long. Tosfos asks why the gemara didn’t simply learn the law of shiva from a clearer– and earlier– reference, in Breishis 50:10, where Yosef was mis'abeil for Yaakov, where it says “vayaas le’aviv eivel shivas yamim.” Tosfos answers that we are looking for a case of real aveilus, which begins after the burial, and the ‘eivel’ in that passuk took place before Yaakov’s kvurah. He also brings the Yerushalmi that we don’t want to bring a rayah from before mattan Torah.

The Likutei Yehuda brings that one of the Gerer Rebbes (I don’t remember which one) saw an old sefer that said the following:

Even before the chet of the Eitz Hada’as, man would not have lived forever, because a world without death cannot exist. But before the chet, a man would decide when he had done all he was sent here to do, and all he was able to do, and he would get all his friends together, and make a celebratory seuda, and then he would go and die; he would simply stop living, just as the people of Luz would do. After the chet, people no longer know when they are going to die, and they don’t have a clear idea of what their purpose in life is, and they die whether they are ready or not. This change introduced the tragedy and fear and anxiety of death. Therefore, the ‘chag’ in the possuk in Amos the gemara brings– vehafachti chageichem– alludes to the valedictory celebration that would have accompanied death if not for the chet of Odom Horishon; that chag has been turned into eivel. This, then, is a reference to Adam in Gan Eiden, who long preceded the possuk of vayaas l’aviv eivel shiv’as yamim. So even without the Yerushalmi’s answer that we prefer to not bring psukim from before mattan Torah, the reason the Bavli chose the passuk in Amos was that the passuk of ‘ve’hafachti’, though written much later, refers to an event that long preceded the passuk of “vaya’as le’oviv eivel shiv’as yomim.”

These two ideas, that sometimes shiva can precede death, and that a levaya might be a celebration, are not mere theory. You have to wonder, how can the seven day isolation that accompanied the inauguration of the kohanim have been characterized as a pre-death shiva? What does that have to do with shiva? Perhaps the answer is that the seven days of isolation were a farewll to their past life, and now, as kohanim, they would have begun a completely new type of existence. That being the case, it was, in a sense, the same as the shiva that follows the death of a normal person. And as for the pre-Eitz Hada'as concept of death, I have attended levayos where, despite the attendant sadness, there was an undercurrent of the pre-expulsion feeling, where the person had had overcome so much and had acheived so much, that the levaya was as much a celebration of a life well lived as it was a tearful farewell.

Tzav, Vayikra 6:5,6. The Fire on the Mizbei'ach.

6:5-6. Tukad, ubi’eir, and Lo sichbeh. There is a halacha that even though there was a supernatural fire on the mizbei’ach, it is a mitzvoh to add natural fire as well. The Sefer HaChinuch says the purpose of the eish min hahediot, the natural fire, was to attenuate and lessen the neis. Even in the greatest of miracles, such as the splitting of the sea, the Ribono Shel Olam desires the contribution of a natural element.

I mentioned this rule once in the course of a drasha, and I quoted the words of the passuk "Eish tamid tukad ahl hamizbeiach lo sichbeh", an eternal fire shall burn on the Mizbei'ach and shall not be extinguished. Dr. Meir Z was sitting next to me, and he mentioned that he had taken care of Mr. W, YH’s father in law, until his death two or three years before. Toward the end, Mr. W suffered from dementia, but he constantly repeated this passuk, to the point that his non-Jewish caretakers used to call him Mr. Eishtamid. Dr. Z said that nobody had found a satisfactory explanation for why he did this, and it was a real puzzle, because he was incapable of any rational thought or intelligible speech besides this one possuk. Dr. Z said that the family had some theories about it, but before he continued, I told him that there was nothing to discuss, because the reason was very simple and very clear. There is a minhag, brought in the Siddur Ha’Ari Z’l, to repeat this possuk as one is falling asleep.

The idea behind the minhag is that we ask Hashem to protect us as we feel the bond between the body and the neshama weakening. This man apparently used to do this as he would fall asleep, and now that he found himself in a sort of unending dream state, forever suspended between wakefulness and sleep, he would do as he did his whole life and repeat the possuk. He was so accustomed to say it, that he did so even when he could no longer think, when his cognition was almost completely withered away. Dr. Z told this to YH, and when YH next saw me he rushed to bring over his wife, and I explained to her what it meant, and she tearfully said that she is learning far more about her father after his petirah than she knew when he was alive.

This reminded me of how, at the time that his blood calcium level had risen to a point that he had lost almost all his cognitive abilities, R Moshe Feinstein used to finger the corners of the woolen blanket he was covered with. At first, we assumed this was meaningless, compulsive movement. But we later realized that his whole life, he was machmir not to be covered with a woolen blanket during the day because of the tzitzis problem*, and that his body or his neshama felt that something was wrong, even though his mind was not functioning. When we changed blankets, he no longer exhibited this behavior.

These stories are a mussar haskeil about how a life of torah and mitzvos can so suffuse a person with spirituality that his body becomes intrinsically holy and aware of its circumstances, even when the physical mind no longer functions. It’s a kind of Daas Torah of the body. A person can reach a level where we the dualism of physical brain function / spiritual consciousness, which normally is very hard to discern in the physical world, expresses itself in the person's physical behavior, and the inviolate spiritual consciousness can be observed to control the person's physical awareness and action.

I suppose one could say that just as there was an eish min hashomayim and an eish min hahediot on the mizbeiach, so, too, every person's consciousness comprises both ishim. When the latter dies down, the former takes its place.

We see a similar thing in Tamid Nishchat when Hillel came from Bavel and said that he didn’t remember how to get the knives to the Shechitas Psachim on Shabbas, and he said let’s just wait and see what the people do. There, too, Hillel knew that there is a meta-physical aspect to the Klal Yisroel, both as a whole and as individuals, that will express itself when the intellect and conscious awareness fails.

* (The tzitzis problem I mentioned is this: the Rambam and the Rif hold that only wool and linen are chayav tzitzis mid’oraysa. The Rosh paskens that all cloth is chayov mid’oraysa. The Rosh holds that a night garment is not chayav tzitzis even if it is worn during the day. The Rambam, on the other hand, holds that a night garment worn during the day is chayav. Therefore: if a person wears a night garment made of non-wool during the day, according to everyone it is not chayav mid’orayso: according to the Rambam, it is pattur because it is a not wool. According to the Rosh it is pattur because it is a night garment. But if a person wears a woolen night garment during the day, then according to the Rosh it is not chayav mid’orayso because it is a night garment. But according to the Rambam, since it is wool and it is being worn during the day, it is chayav mid’orayso. Reb Moshe, although he paskened like the Ramo who paskens like the Rosh, was machmir like the Rambam where it was an issue of chiyuv d’orayso.)